Apparatus for separating gold from magnetic sands.



PATBNTED MAY 28, :1.907.

No. 854,997l

E. GATES. APPARATUS POR SBPARATING GOLD PROM MAGNETIC SANDS.

APPLICATION FILED MAB. 19. 1900.

3 SHEETS-SERRA.' 1.

, ,M ya@ @W 'f E. GATES. APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING GOLD FRGM MAGNETIC SANDS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 19. 190C.

PATENTBD MAY 28 1907.

3 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

Zwf

PATENTED MAY 28, Q?.

A E. GATES. AEPARATUS FOR SBPARATING GOLD PROM MAGNEHG SANDS.

APPLICATION FILED MAE.19.1900.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3t I l iculties ia TEn STATES rr'. r

[PATENT oirrron ELMER GATES, orL oHEvYcHAsaMARYLANn, AssIGNoR, BY MESNE iis/ SIGNMENTS, To WASHINGTQN LOAN amener ooMPANr, .A vcoiuo- 1 RATIoN.'

APPARATUS Fon ssPAnATmG-GQLD Enom MAGNETIC SANDS.

Nass/1,997.

Patented Mey 2s, 1907.

To all whom it mayconcern:

Be it known, thatiLELMER GATEs,1 a citi- 7en of the United States, residing at Chevy Chase', in" the county of Montgomery, State ofMa-ryland, have invented certain new vand useful Im rovements in Apparatus .for Separating Go d froinMagnetic Sands; and I' do hereby declare the ,following to be affull,

clear, and exact descri tion 1of the invention,

such as will enable ot 1ers skilled intheartappertains to make anduse the,

to which it same.

My invention relates to the Vseparationbf' gold particles fromniixturs in'whiclltheyvv appear in .1 association- Witl'r` 'magnetic 1- sand, as, for instance; incertain deposits. 1 Prior; to :.;my. nv r'ition,"fs o-1*far"as Y I am aware,1 anyl1atteniptsbto Iec'ov' gold from 'such mixtures`- "b rators have1beeii'Latte'ndeil7 4culty that; although .tl ief magnet1c spends readil totheseparator .magne'tfiti ,1s sc fed to t reseni etsgandzthe 'magnetsf'l are so energized thatlt and is heldagainst the magneticfpart'icle trapped and entangle netic sand,` itis, in-great themagnet `in such aftvaythat the goldis held between,` magnet anda layer'ofsaid magnetic sand'- magnetic sand the mixture istfed'to a belt-Whichcariies the gold tothe magnets,- the gold, owing 1to`i ts greater specific gravity,- settlesv 'down upon that, when? it passes over -the magnet," the gold is held between thefinavneticsand and tliemagnet. Furthermore; il

mass, and, if the' magnetic orcebe too weak,1'

the iron doesi'notfsiu'iiciently adhere'to fbe pro erly carried awa 1 mavneticse 'i ali waffth alla.,

given quality of magnetic sand, will not1 sufnce" to cause the magnetic sand to form an amorphousmass, but which will be just suf-'1 I icient to cause it to be arrested by the inagnet, and, under the influence of the lines of force, to arrange itself in built-up moss-like of varying heights, projecting outwardly se aratefvertica structures, which, under the 11 uence ofthe moving magnet', as 1t drags ing; thereby permitting the'enmeshed gold structures.'f- 1f tures ofmy inventon'g' Figi re resentsftli roughening of the feed apron.; l1ig."2 re r sents afront elevatiomof the' a aratus; .2 represents the roughening o ferred' forni of the invention; Fig. lrepresents tion' and liberated. 1 A

parts'throughout the severalviews. 1 1 '1 l 1g* t 1e pole piece' Fig; Srepresents a rearelevation of the' pre1- .8S an end elevationithereof; Fig. represent's" approximately the formation assumedby the magnetic sand in the practice o f the inven-1 the manner in whichfthejgold Similar letters-of reference indicate .similar the magnet-to a degree-Which, `for a l 6o structures havin' vthe semblance-of fronds 'i1 Ifrom the magnet. "This arrangement ofthe particles causes the. vdisintegration of the otherwiseA amo hous mass into a series of 65.`

4these' structures after it over the apron,`fare 1eonstantly-sl1ifting,separating and reform-V f-'tofall out." 1"Tojassistithisactionaiminutel' 1 j'ostling or vibratoryintion may be' given to 1 ,the-apron' or magnet; orv both combined, 'so`. "as to vshake the slightlyadherent. particles off" l; V v rond-likemagnetic lsand- 775= .I1\ the.accompanying 1drawings: Figurerl.; 1 A represents aside elevation of a form of ap ai ratus' embodying the inain-underlyingea Referring particularly to 1 and 2;;o'ff" tl1e drawing, A indicates suitable legsL orf*-`A` standards upon which arefmounted theopen* places, it Willbe foun convenientfto eIIiIlltY the secondary batteriesffor thatfpurpose; as

m5 will be readily understoodj ."B'yfme'an's 'offaf rface 6o ment of the foot.

rheostat, operated* bythe right fool?, 01T. Per# manently adustable bythe usual means, the strength of t eleurrentmay be varied to suit the case, on the coil C, Fig.1, may be moved away from the pole pieceIf` so as to energize it less. ,ik

The electro-ma etuis` provided with acore 4having a rounde pole'fpiece F,l (which may be roughened or corrugated, see Fig. 2") arro ranged ata double incline, and, in front of the pole (piece and'in close proximity thereto,

islocate the shelf Ghavi'ng a like double in- .cline and which may be likewise `roughened,

' see 1; The' purpose of roughening the cure uneven. istribution'fofl the magnetic .hneaof forc'e over the corres ondmg surfaces,

thereby facilitating the shi ing and shaking of the moss like or rond'like structures. In

zo the magnet face the lines of 'force will tend to' concentrate along the high points and inthe.

diamagnetic apron the lines of force will tend to .crowd -through the relatively thin places between (the cormgations, and as these 25 points areconstantly shifting their ositions relative `to eachother, the lines'of orce correspondingly shift and'move the magnetic materiahwith them. '--Tlie shelf is ofl non-magnetic materialand is hinged .at b, by 3o a leather ,strap orotherwise attached-to the `f` long flexible arm s. At its lower end it isirovided with the guard board c,' therebyA o" alateral chutewhichdischarges'into *"the'co ecting hopper H, or the like. ,-It is "furthermore connected at its 1ower end,`by :thejlink 1d, toa foot treadle -;K', having a spring e, and pivoted to Ione end o f the stand# ards lA, at the front of 1 the Ina hine, where the' operator is stationed. It is/ vident that, 4o by means of the treadle `theshelr G maybe e1therV slightly `jostled, a" series of small shakes ormaybe caused to move downwardly7 at a single stroke,.through a considerable dis tance, v4so that the lower edge of the 'pole' piecev F shall move its loadof mavnetic sand.

upward to the top of the shelf, wlciere it may be removed b a brush or otherwise. The magneticsan may,s in' fact, before being brushed olf, be caused tore eatedly thus 5o move up to the top of the shel or apron and then move down again, to near the bottom,

and so on, as long as desired thus prolonging the action and thorou hl sifting ont Athe gold. The linkd is re era ly provided with a serrated ed as s own, co-operatin with aprojecting p ate r aiiixed to the main ame', so as to'give an outward and inward vibratory jost motion to thesheliwhile it is being move up and down by the slow move- In practice, ,the mafgnetic sand, containing .the gold particles, is ed through the ho per D in regulated quantity upon the s he f' or apron G, the electro-magnet, of course, being' first energized. The magnetic sand immedithe` pole ieee and the shelf is to se-V lacement hereinbeforespeciied, and which is approximately indicated in Fig. 5. 'lhe operator thereupon works the treadle K, Q us'imparting lboth a vertical and transverse jigging motion to the shelf or apron G.

his motion, which when rapid is'intentionally slight, so that the magnetic sand may not be 1arr'ed off the apron, I find is accompanied with a continual ris-arrangement of the particles 'of the arrested magnetic sand, and, as this re-arrangernent and re-formation proceeds, the gold 'particles-becomedisentangled from the mass and gradually work their way downward through 1t. The operator, by continuing the treale movementcan ultimatelythoroughly sift out thegold from the ma netic sand, finally receiving the gold in the opper I-I. The' magnetic sand, de-

prived of 1tsgold ..remains` as a waste mate apronis-pulled dow-n until the magnet has carried the sandto the top of the apron, during which timeadditional -gold particles are free to escape, by reason ofthe continuous shifting and re-arrangement of the fronddike structures, due to the constant -change in the ap lication of the lines'of force.

Figs. 3 and 4, the main elements of the/prior 9s nj the form of the invention lshown in structure are employed, as indicated bythe corresponding' reference letters. The link d, for jigging the apron G, is connectedto a t. ivoted lever m, rocked by a cam upon a haft L.. Upon the vsame shaft are-mounted a series of electro-magnets M, having rounded poleepieces N, and energized successively, as they pass one after another beneath the apron, asfindicated by the contact brushes t; The function off-these pole pieces, which-- move loc.

slowly, is to clean the gold from any small particles' of magnetic sand, which it may ave entrained with it on its escape from the arrested mass opposite the pole piece F. The magnetic sand, when it reaches the up per portion of the incline, may be brushed off iloaterally, either by hand-or automatically.

In Aorder toprovide for conveniently locating its these cleamng'magnets; I may, as shown, f

extend the apron chute the iorm of a supplementary chute', Gl.

aving thus described my invention, what vIclaimis:U L

1. Apparatus for separating gold l from magnetic sand, comprising a magnet producing a non-uniform ield, an inclined screen or apron extending within the magnetic field and upon which the material is fed, and means for imparting a succession of rapid but slight `vibrations to the .screen or apron, whereby the magnetic sand is arrested'upon the screen and is caused to undergo a series of re-arrangements thereby liberating the gold particles and permitting them to fall down the incline, to be separately collected; substantially as described. y Y

2. Apparatus for separating gold from magnetic sand, comprising a magnet, a screen or apron extending within the magnetic eld, and having a double incline, the Alower end of said screen forming a lateral chute, and means for imparting a succession of rapidv but slight vibrations to the screen or apron; substantially as described.

3H. Apparatus for separating -1 gold. from magnetic sand, comprising an electro-magnet having a core terminating in an inclined pole piece, a screen or apron located in front of said pole piece and having a double incline, the lower end of said screen forming a lateral chute7 and means for imparting a succession of'rapid but slight vibrations to tlie screen or apron; substantially as described.

4... Apparatus for y Vseparating gold from magnetic sand, comprising a magnet, a

screen or apron extending withinthe magnetic field and upon which` the material is fed,v said screen having a double inclineland having a lateral chute at its lower end, and a supplemental'magnetic element located at a lower level. and mounted to move below the screen thereat so as to attract and remove from the recovered gold any remaining particles of magnetic sand; substantially as dcscribed.

5. 'Apparatus for separating' gold from magnetic sand, comprising a magnet, a

screen -or apron Aextending within the magnetic field and upon which the material is fed, said screen having a double incline and having a lateral chute at its lower end, and a supplemental magnetic element located at a lower level and mounted to move below the screen thereat soA as to attract and remove from the recovered gold any remaining particles of', magnetic sand, said magnetic element consistingof a plurality of electro-magnets upon a rotary shaft', and havin widened pole pieces; substantially as descri ed.

. .Apparatus forV separating gold from imparting an up and down movement to 'the one relatively to the other and separate means for simultaneously j ostling the apron substantially as described.

9. Apparatus for separating .gold from a magnet said feed apron passing through the field ofthe magnet, a hinge upon which the feed apron has a limited capacity of up and down movement, a flexible arm upon which the hinge is mounted so as to give the apron a further range of up and down movement when desired and means for imparting movement to said apron; substantially as described.

magnetic sand, comprising an electro-magnet having a core terminating in an inciined pole piece, a screen or apron located in front of saidv pole piece and having a double in" eline, the lower end of said screen forming a lateral chute, and means for imparting a succession of rapid but slight vibrations to the screen or a ron, said means consisting of Aa spring tread econnected bya link to the screen or apron; substantially as described. l In testimony whereof I affix my signature,

in presence of two Witnesses.

' i ELMER GATES.'

Witnesses:

JOHN C. PENNIE, 'A. E. GRANT.

magnetic sand, comprising a feed apron and the gold and magnetic sand, and means forl 10. Apparatus for separating gold from I 

